The left worries about the universal rights of man, whereas the right worries about preserving nationalistic tradition and culture.

This last point may recall Karl Marx's famous critique of the ways in which a democratic constitution formally committed to the rights of man and citizen may distort perceptions of injustice, and so blunt demands for social change.

The spontaneous proliferation of the Jacobin clubs, with their high-minded commitment to the rights of man and the citizen, reflected this inspiration.